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That's pretty sweet! I'm hoping to get started on my aluminum frame honda Z50 resto-drag bike.. The bike's a 146cc, big cam, oversized valves, 13.5:1 c/r and a ton more.. it's a tad over 15 horses and almost 14 ft/lbs with a 4 speed manual gearbox behind it (yes it's a "mini-bike" but there's people like me all over in the cult following of them )

can't wait to see the wheeler chassis finished!!!!!!!!

Dynasty 200DXHobart Handler 135Smith MB55A-510 O/A setupLathe/Mill/BandsawHypertherm Powermax 45
Just about every other hand tool you can imagine

thanks for the help
......or..........
hope i helped feel free to shoot me an e-mail direct i have time to chat.james@newyorkmetalart.comsummer is here, plant a tree. if you don't have space or time to plant one sponsor some one else to plant one for you. a tree is an investment in our planet, help it out.
JAMES

I have a few questions about this project for ya. First, What material are you using for the parts and what type of filler rod are you using? The reason i ask this is to ask if you got any distortion on the front end or anything that you had to fix? (and knowing material and filler will help m dtermine where i need to go on my work)

I seem to have to clamp the **** out of 4130 and especially SS tubing when doing chasses & suspension pieces "the right way" on a table with proper jigging and clamping tools instead of on my knees or back poking at it with a MIG gun.

About 8 years ago I built a Go-Kart that was air shifted, air clutch on a kawasaki 350 tripple motor with wurgis expansion chambers a( 3 cylinder 350 made back in the 70's...like pre-banshee thoughts even LOL ) I was given the bike with no title and too ugly to ride on teh streets so i cut it up and made a toy out of it.

That thing was mean as could be and straight as an arrow when finished, and it was migged together on a concrete floor using chalk lines, heavy objects, 90* clamps and a few other combinations of vice-grips, cinder blocks, friends and a BFH. I'm wanting to build a new one that's a little more trick this year to be done around spring early summer. I still have all the vitals from teh first one except for the motor and a lot of it'srunning gear because it got some good money on ebay :P

What i have to work with as of now are Some real KART axle with all running gear, wheels with tires and bearings, spindles with mounts and a rear caliper for the disk around here. I've got all the air shift components and enough extras to have back up shifting and clutch or maybe try something trick like an "air e-brake" if i can't find some other imaination driven tid-bit to add with the extra parts.

I guess i'll stop writing you a book and just ask my question. Basically, if i'm putting down this kind of effort and buying this much chro-mo for a "toy", then i want that chassis to be flat, low and true and not have to build a jig that costs 3 times the chassis just to get it straight. DO you have any pointers? I've been doing this a long time (welding and chassis/suspension work), I have read a lot of books and tried a lot of things, but i'm still constantly learning and improving technique, so if you have anything mayb even some "old timer's tricks" or anything like that i'd love to hear em.

Last edited by turboglenn; 11-05-2008 at 12:42 AM.

Dynasty 200DXHobart Handler 135Smith MB55A-510 O/A setupLathe/Mill/BandsawHypertherm Powermax 45
Just about every other hand tool you can imagine

thanks everyone....i posted a pic of me racing mine its a 443cc banshee and made 116hp ran 300ft in 3.9 seconds at 80 mph....wont have pics of this one racing till next summer...But i am using .065 chro molly and actually just using a mig....I know alot of people dont agree with this but i have read alot about it and people seem to be torn on which is actually better i mean i know tig is better and has a smaller haz but i just bought my first tig and havnt even turned it on yet i still have to learn how to tig....And i built my own jig to keep the a-arms true and straight didnt cost me anything just stuff we already had...Ill get some pics of it also while im building the a-arms.....i wish i could give you more info but i am also just learning and improving my techniques...I actually am only 18 and this is only the 3rd chassis i have done...i have bought alot of new equipment lately and this is the first frame i have got to use it on....I can say from experiance i will never hesitate to buy good equipment the first time from now on it makes projects so much easy....

Wow! I wouldn't have been able to resist opening the TIG up and striking an arc after buying one, i can't wait to use any "new toy" when i get one though.

As long as you're not hearing a lot of "tink" noises (the chro-mo cracking) You'll be okay for the most part. I use to MIG a lot of 4130 and learned that pre and post heating are big helpers when using that material. Probably more important than pre-heating is the post heating to slow the cooling process down.

AS for now, get that TIG out and strike an arc and burn some rods. When learning TIG or when TIG welding in odd positions you'll find you almost spend more time pointing up your tungsten than you will welding because you dipped it in the puddle 3 times in a one inch bead (at least that's what it was like for me). So make sure to have plenty of tungsten and a grinder to sharpen them with before geting started... I had 3 sticks of 2% thoriated and a 4.5 inch angle grinder on hand when i got my dynasty home and it served me well until i was able to bring a grinder home to have a dedicated sharpening wheel. Although I have a wheel on a bench grinder for them at home, in the field I usually find myself shaping them up on a grinding wheel and then using a sanding disk to remove the grinding marks... SMoothing them out on a paper wheel really helps improve arc stability and overall welding.

Dynasty 200DXHobart Handler 135Smith MB55A-510 O/A setupLathe/Mill/BandsawHypertherm Powermax 45
Just about every other hand tool you can imagine